Oculus confirms that Crescent Bay prototype isn't for sale

If you recently ordered an Oculus Rift development kit 2, but are still waiting for it to arrive, you might be wondering if Oculus will let you hold off on DK2 in favor of the newer, snazzier Crescent Bay prototype. At least, that’s a situation we found ourselves in.

Oculus making steady progress on road to consumer Rift

At its two-day Oculus Connect developer conference in Los Angeles this week, Facebook-owned Oculus VR introduced a new, improved version of its Rift virtual reality head mounted display (HMD). Called Crescent Bay, this latest prototype packs a number of improvements over the DK2 model. These improvements, the company says, are enough to ensure a level of immersion “that’s impossible to achieve with DK2.”

Oculus Rift will have a limited rollout

Oculus VR has been keeping silent as to when it will release an Oculus Rift model for the consumer. There is certainly a demand for the product which has reached the point where the developer halted distribution of the Oculus Rift DK2 to China due to people re-selling the device for a higher price. However, instead of being gouged in order to own one, customers might be able to purchase the Oculus Rift consumer model in 2015, according to unnamed sources that spoke to TechRadar.

Company is also working on embeddable “mega sensor” for future VR headsets

Palmer Luckey, the creator of the Oculus Rift virtual reality head-mounted display (HMD), recently told GamesIndustry International that VR may not become mainstream for quite some time to come. One of the things currently holding VR back, per Luckey, is the use of traditional controllers, which he feels are far from ideal for VR. However, as we wait for the ideal VR input to materialize, the list of controller alternatives for VR aficionados to experiment with keeps on growing. The latest addition to it is the Leap Motion Controller.

Get paid to root out bugs in Oculus Rift

The concept of a bug bounty program is nothing new, and even Facebook will line your pockets with cash if you discover a qualifying security vulnerability in the social network or select acquisitions it's made. Until now, however Oculus Rift was exempt. Facebook has now extended its bug bounty program to Oculus Rift, which joins other Facebook acquisitions such as Instagram, Parse, Onavo, and Moves.

Competition for third-party developers?

Many third-party manufacturers are researching and developing motion control devices for the Oculus Rift such as the Virtuix Omni treadmill and PrioVR suit. However, according to CNET, Oculus VR is making its own VR motion controllers.

Palmer Luckey says VR gaming needs to be at least 60 frames per second

If you're pulling 30 frames per second in your game, it's playable, though you don't want to dip much below that. Oculus Rift founder Palmer Luckey has a different number in mind for virtual reality. According to Luckey, VR gaming needs to be in the neighborhood of 60 frames per second -- at 30fps, he considers it a failure and calls it a bad artistic decision. His opinion isn't necessarily limited to VR gaming, either.

It's VR or nothing

Maximum PC editor Jimmy Thang was able to interview Eve: Valkyrie lead designer Ian Alexander Shiels at E3. During their discussion Shiels talked about Eve: Valkyrie and how it is a VR-only experience.

Oculus Rift will virtualize the ticket blaster experience

If you've ever been to a Chuck E. Cheese birthday party before, then you're familiar with the Ticket Blaster -- a phone booth sized contraption filled with single tickets, plus a special 1,000 ticket piece of paper. The kid celebrating his or her birthday gets to slip inside and try to grab as many tickets as possible as a vortex of wind swirls them around. Kids love it, but at select locations, Chuck E. Cheese will create a virtual Ticket Blaster experience using the Oculus Rift.

Former 343 Industries art director assembling team for first-party titles

Oculus VR announced on its Twitter account that it has hired Kenneth Scott for the position of Oculus art director for its first-party content team. Scott will be in charge of building the team, according to the tweet, though no information has been provided as to what kind of content will be developed.